Eternity in Each Moment
by Rai Lockhart
Summary: Collection of 13 shorts that feature different members of the next generation interacting and bonding.
1. Sweet Silence

**A/N: This is going to be a collection of one shots all relating to the next generation of the Potterverse. The characters will change each day. I hope you enjoy! Feel free to suggest a pairing for me to tackle and/or a certain situation. I would love to have more to write!  
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**Note: Most of the pairings will _not_ be romantic. These stories are mostly about family and relationships between different members of the Weasley clan. **

**Disclaimer: I own none of the characters, JK Rowling does.  
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Molly and Lucy

It was one thing to hum quietly to oneself while completing a task.

It was something else entirely to sing, loudly and off key, a song to which one apparently does not know the words.

"Lucy, I implore you to stop singing that stupid muggle song! Please!"

The singing stopped abruptly. "No," Lucy called through the wall. "I quite like it, and I think you would too, if you just heard it." Lucy started her song again, and Molly was sure she could hear the heavy footfalls of her sister leaping about the room in a self-styled interpretive dance.

"Well, your singing isn't going to make me want to listen to it, so please, I beg of you, STOP SINGING!" The singing stopped and Molly went back to studying for her upcoming spring semester in blessed silence. She was engrossed in a history about the oldest wizarding war; the battles were gruesome, the magic was raw and barbaric, and the wizards were horrible.

It was _fascinating_.

Until she was torn from the pages of her book by her sister who was starting on another, completely different muggle song. "That's _it_," Molly said menacingly, slamming her book shut. She needed peace and _quiet_ if she was going to get ahead in her education. Molly marched over to her sister's room and threw open the door, revealing Lucy on her messy, unmmade bed painting her nails. "You need to shut up, Lucy," Molly said slowly, accenting each of her words with annoyance. She was glaring at her sister, almost daring her to say no again.

Lucy just stared at her sister for a few moments, and then smiled. "Oh, hello Molly! What a surprise to see you here; I never would have guessed you would bother to venture over to my room. I know how much you dislike the mess."

Her sister seemed not to understand the gravity of the situation she was facing. Molly took a deep breath. "Do you agree to stop singing those ridiculous muggle songs?"

"If you'd like I could sing some of the wizard hits."

"You misunderstand me. I just want you to stop singing. I can't hear myself think, and I need to think to make sure that I will remain the best! Do you get it, now?"

Lucy shrugged and went back to painting her nails. "I don't particularly care… you could always go to the family library to study, you know. It's my house too. I can sing, in my room, if I want to."

Molly took her wand out of her pocket. "Is that your final response to my inquiry?"

"Yes. So you can go shove your-"

"Petrificus Totalus," Molly said smugly, aiming her wand at her younger sister. Lucy's body became rigid and straight as a board, and her nail polish fell to the floor, adding a colorful spill to the rug. Molly could see her sister staring at her angrily, but she didn't care.

As long as she had perfect _silence._


	2. Muggles

**A/N: Day Two. I hope you enjoy! Feel free to suggest a pairing for me to tackle and/or a certain situation. It would be fun and I would love you forever?  
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**Disclaimer: I own none of the characters, JK Rowling does.**

Hugo and Louis

"I just think it's fascinating, don't you? Mummy says they've only been able to fly for a little over a hundred years, can you believe that? They use these things called airplanes to move through the sky. Those are the big bulky things that are always flying through the sky."

Louis let out an exasperated sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I know what airplanes are, Hugo."

The littlest Weasley excitedly bounced in his seat, completely unaware of his cousin's annoyance. "Muggles also have this funny sticky stuff that they use to keep stuff together called tape. Muggles use it for a lot of stuff, like putting paper back together and sticking stuff to walls! Mummy says it's called tape. Isn't it amazing what Muggles invent? I mean, things we take for granted like sticky charms, they have to come up with! _Incredible!_"

It was best, in this case, just to keep his mouth shut. Maybe if Louis didn't speak or didn't seem interested, Hugo would eventually get the hint and walk away. Doubtful, but one could hope.

"My muggle grandparents are dentists, you know. They fix and clean muggles teeth. Grandfather was just telling me about this time that a woman came in who hadn't been to a teeth doctor in years, and she had _rotten teeth!_ Grandfather says that's one reason we should always brush our teeth and go to the dentist at least twice a year! When I told him we didn't need to go to the dentist, he looked so shocked! Mummy had to pull me away so he wouldn't start another lecture on the dangers of neglecting dental hygiene."

"_Fascinating_," Louis replied sarcastically.

Hugo, in his innocence, didn't even register the scathing tone his cousin was using. "It is, isn't it? Dad says that muggles are all a little bit crazy, though. He says that they don't even know who Uncle Harry is, much less Voldemort. And he says that they think that Merlin in a myth! Dad says that Mummy said that in the muggle myth, Merlin even helped a muggle get to the throne of England! Isn't it weird how little they know about how things really are?" Hugo stared at Louis, his eyes wide.

Louis turned a page in his novel. Clearly _all_ of Aunt Hermione's genes missed this child. "They are muggles, Hugo. They're not supposed to know."

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Louis. You know, you're a really nice person! I don't know why everyone always says that you're mean or stuck up. You seem like a real swell guy to me!" Hugo said brightly, his legs swinging through the air.

That made Louis stop reading to turn to look at his cousin. Hugo was completely earnest, and he had a huge, toothy grin on his face. Louis found himself smiling back and rethinking his earlier assessment. It seemed both of Aunt Hermione's kids were worthwhile.

"You are an _exceptionally _decent person yourself, Hugo," Louis responded with sincerity.


	3. Stone Bench

**A/N: Day Three. I hope you enjoy it! Again, feel free to suggest a pairing in the comments. I'll write it! I promise. **

Fred and Roxanne

They were seated on the same stone bench which they sat on every year on this day.

It was the bench that was just far enough away so their parents could have privacy, but close enough so Angelina could keep an eye on her kids.

Both of them knew that they were not to move, not to do _anything stupid_. On this day of all days, they were expected to be on their best behavior. Even as toddlers, Fred and Roxanne had known that this day was sacred, that the hour spent in the graveyard was holy and mystical. It was not to be disturbed by anything, much less a childish argument or a scraped knee.

"I hate today," Roxanne said suddenly, out of the blue. "I always hate it."

"I know," Fred said, his voice uncharacteristically somber. "I hate it, too."

They watched their father collapse onto the earth in front of a rather shoddy looking gravestone while their mother watched him from the path. His shoulders shook and he looked so frail, so broken, so _small._

"It's just," Roxanne started, "I think he blames himself. I think Papa blames himself for being the one who survived, sometimes."

Fred said nothing, but he knew that Roxanne spoke the truth. It was sometimes obvious that their father blamed himself for the death of his twin. Fred watched as his mother sat down on the ground next to his father and put his arm around him as he let himself grieve.

"If he blames himself, does that mean he's not happy?" she asked, her voice starting to shake. "Does that mean that he wishes he never lived?"

"I don't know," Fred answered slowly.

"Because if he never lived, we wouldn't be here, either," Roxanne continued, her voice dangerously close to misery. "So does that mean that sometimes he wishes we weren't alive?"

Fred put his arm around his sister and let her lean on his shoulder as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I hope not," he answered truthfully. His throat felt tight and raw, and it was hard even to breathe. It felt like a knot had painfully bound itself in his stomach as his sister's tear turned into full blown sobbing. Fred just hugged her tighter and watched his parents, who were completely oblivious to what was going on behind them.

"It's just, it's not fair for him to feel that way," Roxanne sobbed. "It's not fair for him to feel like he shouldn't be alive, because we need him! We need him more than he needed Uncle Fred! He can't feel like he's not worth enough to be alive, even for one day, because then that means that we aren't worth anything, either!" Roxanne was clenching and unclenching her fists as she cried into her brother's shoulder. "And we're worth something, damn it!"

Their parents were both unmoving, staring at the grave of his namesake, completely unaware.

Fred tightened his grip.

"I know, Roxie. I know we are."


	4. The Plan

**A/N: Day Four! Again, you can request a pairing/group if you like the way I write.  
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**Enjoy. Read and review?**

Albus, Hugo, Louis, Fred, and James

"The bluebird has left the nest." Fred's voice crackled over the old Muggle radios they had found.

"Is everyone ready?" James asked, glancing at Hugo and Albus.

"I don't feel comfortable with this."

"Shut up, Hugo! If you can't throw a few water balloons then hand them over to Al and he'll do it for you."

"I just want everyone to know that I am only taking part in this because he called me a slobbering, simple, self-centered, snake loving Slytherin. You all know I _hate_ alliteration."

"Well, Albus, you _are_ Slytherin swine."

"Say that to my face, James, and these wildfire whiz-bangs are going down your _throat_."

"You two shut the hell up! Do you want him to know that we're here before we get to put the plan in action?"

"If you wanted it to go smoothly, you shouldn't have included _James._"

"Me? You're the one who can't go a few seconds without make some kind of snide remark."

"It's called wit, big brother. I know you've never used it because it requires a _brain_, but trust me, my remarks are humorous."

"Heh, I'm sure you and Scorpius have loads of fun giggling at your witty remarks when you're alone together late at night. Does wit make for good _pillow talk_, dearest little brother?"

"That. Is. _IT," _Albus growled. "Stop hiding underneath the damn invisibility cloak and face me like a _man_. Or can you not live up to the precious _Gryffindor _name? I bet you're too scared to come out and put your wand where your mouth is. "

"We Gryffindors don't know the definition of the word scared, unlike some _cowards _I could mention from your lovely house, Albus. I could take you right here and now and still have time to finish terrorizing Louis."

"Such brave words from a boy who couldn't even pull a prank on his cousin without hiding underneath _daddy's_ invisibility cloak."

"Wow, did you learn that sneer from Malfoy? It seems you two have perfected being pompous asses in your cozy little dungeons."

"Let's go, then!" Al said to James. "I'd like to be able to show you your place before dinner."

"My _place?_ Yeah, I'll find my place. It will be above you with my foot on your face!" James had jumped out of his hiding place and was aiming his wand at this brother, the cloak lying on the ground.

"The only way you'd get above me is if I used Levicorpus," Albus snapped, pulling out his wand.

"You say that as if a Slytherin could beat a Gryffindor," James retorted hotly.

"I seem to remember a whole team of Slytherins, including myself, wiping the stadium with a team of Gryffindors in Quidditch. Oh wait… you _were_ there! Nice game, Keeper. But I thought the point was to keep the Quaffle out of the goal?"

Louis walked up and stopped at the sight of two brothers fighting.

"What's going on?" he asked Hugo.

"You _really_ don't want to know."


	5. Courage

**A/N: Day five: Rose and Scorpius is one of my next gen favorite couples! Enjoy. Feel free to request a pairing!**

**Enjoy! Review, please? **

Scorpius and Rose

He wasn't quite sure when it happened.

For all he knew, it had _always_ been there, underneath his greatest fears and insecurities, underneath all those feelings of inferiority and burning shame, underneath his loneliness and defensive nature, buried deep within his soul.

Scorpius smiled and nudged Rose's foot with his own playfully, attempting to distract her from her homework. She scowled, choosing not to look at him, her eyes still glued to the words of the text.

He was certain, though, that without her, he never would have found it. If it hadn't been for that fateful first day, when he fell into a train compartment and then into _their_ lives, he would still be completely ignorant. He would still be living under false pretenses and hiding behind a persona he had built from years of being looked down upon and bullied because of what his family had done before he was even _conceived_.

Because of her. Because she had decided that he was worth befriending. Because she had decided that he was more than just a Malfoy, and she was more than just a Weasley. She and her cousin, her best friend, had looked past whatever his father, grandfather, grandmother, great aunt, his entire family had done and found Scorpius. They hadn't just stopped at the outer shell of the boy on the train. They hadn't taken his name or past into account. They ignored all of it and suddenly he found that his two best friends were the children of the three people who disliked his father the most.

They had, in a sense, rescued him from an evil he didn't even know was festering inside of him. They had accepted him. They didn't care what the other students said about him or what was expected of them. Scorpius was their friend.

_She_ had gone even further. Rose had dug deeper, found a side of Scorpius that Albus would never know; a side that Scorpius himself hardly knew existed. She had looked past everything that he had tried so desperately to hide behind and she had found _him_.

Scorpius lay down on the grass and stared at her back while Rose continued to scrawl notes onto her piece of parchment.

She, who was so brilliant, was completely unaware of what she had done for him. She was unaware of the things that she could bring up to the surface, the feelings that she repeatedly stirred deep within. His gaze softened and the smile returned. Rose, his Rose, the girl who blushed when he winked at her, who spent hours in the library for _fun_, who wouldn't take anything from anybody.

Yes, it was Rose who helped him to finally find the courage inside of himself. She had unknowingly given him the ability to overcome his fears and stop hiding, to give up his persona and become himself.

"Thank you," he said quietly, his eyes drifting shut.

Rose continued working, but now instead of a scowl, she was smiling.


	6. Idols

**A/N: Day Six. Requests for Pairs are most welcome and I will dedicate the chapter to you! **

**Enjoy! Review! Thanks!**

Victoire and Louis

In his mind, his sister was as the closest a mere human could be to perfection. She was graceful, smart, intelligent, kind, imposing, _piercing_- when she was in a room, all eyes flicked to her. She could be a leader if she wanted; she was responsible and just, courageous and thoughtful. When Louis imagined a deity of any kind, it always resembled his sister, and it always paled in comparison.

Victoire was his _idol_.

She embodied everything he wished to be when he was young. She could do no wrong; her bad days were not _so_ bad (she did have to deal with so many lesser people), her anger was never unjustified (people did silly things), and her vulgar emotions were microscopic compared to the good ones.

Even when he found out that she was seeing a Mr. Ted Lupin, he rationalized that no one could come so close to perfection, and so Victoire was allowed to choose someone who might otherwise be unfit. He could change his appearance (although Louis held that his personality posed a problem), a rare talent, and was therefore acceptable for Louis's sister.

His confidence in her first wavered, though, the first time he found her kissing the metamorphmagus boy over the summer break before he came to Hogwarts. It wasn't so much the kissing (although the noises were grotesque) but the fact that he was simply wandering into the small office deemed library and found them.

She had been lying on the table, all over some of the books he had been reading the day before, _defiling _them. His stomach gave a painful jerk, and he wanted to cry out that she was acting less than herself; the Victoire he knew and worshiped would never, _ever_ have agreed to sweat all over a small collection of first addition books.

She yelped when she saw him, and he expected her to apologize, but she and the boy just rushed out. Maybe, he thought, maybe even she forgets herself sometimes.

"He probably secretly hates you, right, Louis?" Victoire demanded angrily, not even looking at him. Her face was caught in a nasty sneer, glaring at her younger sister with such ugly anger and jealousy that Louis almost felt repulsed.

How could she? How could she decide to pick a fight with Dominique just to make herself feel vindicated? Just to make herself feel superior?

Sneering at Dominique, making their sister feel hideous and inferior, all because Theodore Lupin had decided to ask for a "break" on their relationship and Dominique _finally_ had a boy who thought she was prettier than Victoire?

The room was silent; Dominique and Victoire were both fuming, but both waiting on his answer. Louis stood, glancing at Victoire one more time. Her face hadn't changed.

"Isn't that right, Louis?"

He bit back a bitter taste at the memory of her ugly jealousy; so human, _so imperfect_.

Louis paused at the door, not even bothering to look behind him.

"No."

_All idols fall._


	7. Beauty and the Beast

**A/N: Day Seven guyssssss! I'm slowly running out of pairs... So suggest some! And if you want me to do a pair again, like Scorpius and Rose, I'd be more than happy to do so!**

**Enjoy! Review! Thanks everyone for all the reviews I've gotten. :)**

Fred and James

There was a certain legacy to be upheld, seeing as they were related, in their own ways, to two different groups of very famous pranking young wizards.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good," James whispered, tapping the map that his grandfather had helped make many moons ago. The map came alive with ink flowing to the edges of the parchment, and Hogwarts was laid out for him.

Fred looked over his shoulder and grinned. "It looks like everything is shaping up nicely," Fred commented quietly.

"Wands at the ready, Fred," James said after tapping the map once more with the correct incantation. "If we're going to do this, we're going to have to do it soon!"

They pulled out their wands, glanced at each other, and listened. The chattering of first years was very light, but the noise was moving closer. "Let's go," James declared. Fred and James moved out, whispering incantations and aiming their wands at various inanimate objects. The chattering grew louder, and the two began to work faster, their magic flowing out to almost all the objects on the floor.

Fred and James finally finished with one last tap, barely making it into an unused classroom before the first years got to their floor. Fred winked at his cousin, and whispered the last charm.

At first, the little eleven year olds did not hear the eerie chanting echoing from the grandfather clocks, the suits of armor, the candles, and other assorted objects on the hall. Even some of the paintings joined in, despite not being charmed, and the loud moaning music grew louder and louder, forcing the kids to stop and take note.

"_Be our guest, join the rest, _

_Put your magic to the test,_

_Hang this noose around your necks, now,_

_And we'll erase your stress!_

_Many kids were lost before _

_Waltzing down this corridor_

_We've had victims but they tore_

_Now we're looking for some more_

_Thank you for obliging us,_

_Without making too much of a fuss…"_

The singing kept going, growing louder, adding to the eerie chanting from the paintings. The first years started screaming as the suits starting walking toward them with charmed blood rolling down the front and they ran down the hall, trying to get away as fast as they could.

"Did you see that one kid? I'm pretty sure he peed his pants!" Fred and James emerged from the classroom, laughing! The singing stopped and the suits moved back into position.

"Rose never should have shown us that movie!" Fred said, his laughter dying down.

"Really, I know, what was she thinking?"

"I'm thinking," Rose said viciously as she walked up behind them, prefect's badge flashing, "that you two are getting at least a week's worth of detention for traumatizing first years. I can't believe you two charmed the entire corridor to sing!"

James grinned darkly. "It was worth it."

"Oh yeah. This was so worth it," Fred added with a wicked smile of his own.


	8. Speeches

**A/N: Today's chapter is for Bittersweet x, who had been reviewing since the beginning and asked for this pairing (probably because I, like, demanded people start requesting but thank you anyway!)**. **I hope you like it!**

**Feel free to request pairings! It might take me a few days to write them as I am going to be out of town and only posting my backups until Sunday. Please enjoy!**

Lily and Lysander

"No, Lily, I don't think you're right with that answer," Lysander said softly, tapping her parchment with the tip of his wand.

Lily groaned and let her head drop, loudly, onto the wooden desk. The two of them had been sitting in this classroom for hours; Lily was attempting to study for a Care of Magical Creatures test, and Lysander was supposed to be helping her. He was supposed to be her tutor.

And yet, the only thing he was doing was informing her that her answers were not correct. Time and time again, she would write something down, and he would glance up from his book or his fingernails or his own essay and shake his head, repeating those words in his soft voice. He would then smile and go back to whatever he was doing, almost as if that helped her. As if he expected those words to suddenly make her understand.

She wanted to _kill_ him.

"And who made you such an expert on magical beasts, Lys?"

He shrugged, turning a page. "I'd say many holidays spent chasing all sorts of them down with my parents gives me an edge, but I wouldn't say I'm an expert. Expertise in such a large field is something no wizard could rightfully claim."

She resisted the urge to groan loudly one more time, instead choosing to sigh and bang her head lightly on the table. Frustration ate away at her, and Lysander was not helping.

"I can't do it," she informed him, forehead still resting on the desk.

"You can," he said confidently.

She sat up and looked at him with a frown on her face and defeat in her eyes. "I really can't, Lys. Why can't you just tell me the answers? It would go so much faster if you would just give me the right answers so I could study them later."

His usually calm and pleasant face hardened, and she had to stop herself from gasping. "Simply telling you the answers would not teach you anything, Lily. I think you are capable of learning all of this on your own, and cheating would cheapen that. I am not going to degrade you by assuming at any point you are inept or stupid. You are just as intelligent as I am, Lily Potter."

"You really think that?" she asked, and his face softened and he smiled, which caused her to smile back at him.

"Of course I do, Lily."

A comfortable silence settled over the two of them; Lily continued to work, and Lysander continued to read.

She looked at him. "The speech… it's quite effective. I'm surprised I haven't heard it before."

He nodded. "It seems like it would really help to pick up one's spirits. I've used it before, a few times, on the same person. It doesn't seem to work so well with him, though, but it has become quite epic over the years."

She glanced at him. "Lorcan?"

"Lorcan," he confirmed with a grin.


	9. Ice Cream

**A/N: Day Nine! I hope you enjoy! If I can't update every day for the rest of this week, I apologize. Hopefully I can, though!**

**Enjoy! Review! Again, feel free to request a pair! :D**

Molly and Dominique

It was shocking to see her cousin so upset over anything except for a bad grade. Even more surprising was the fact that Molly had come to her when she needed someone to talk with about her problems.

"Dominique, do you mind?" Molly asked over the phone just minutes before appearing in the Fireplace.

"Of course not," Dominique had responded, completely dumbfounded. Molly sounded so different, so very shaken. And when she got to the nearly empty house, Dominique's heart almost stopped from astonishment.

Molly's eyes were puffy and red, and she was shaking. Light black lines ran down her face, most likely from mascara, and her arms were wrapped around her waist. She had been crying. "I didn't know who else I could speak with," Molly said miserably. "That is one thing about being at the top; there's no one else quite on your level." She walked forward and sat on the couch, while Dominique stood in the same position, still stunned. It took her a few seconds to realize that Molly had started speaking once more. "He just broke up with me," Molly was repeating, complete with hand motions. "It came out of nowhere. I thought we were doing well, but he decided that _I_ was _too focused_ on my studies. He thought that I wasn't giving him _enough_ attention or allowing our relationship to truly flourish!"

Fresh tears streamed down Molly's face, and she didn't even other wiping them off. She let them fall, her whole body alive and moving as she cried. Her leg bounced, her gaze darted from one object to another, and her hands were all over the place. It was such a difference from the normally calm, still, disdainful, and distanced Molly.

Dominique felt a wave of sympathy for her cousin, who obviously had never been broken up with before. As far as most of the family knew, Molly didn't even have a boyfriend. That was surprising enough, but to see that she really cared about him just blew Dominique's mind.

"He's an ass," Dominique said. "A real bloody wanker."

"You don't even know him," Molly said with a sniffle.

"It doesn't matter," Dominique replied. "He sounds like a jerk, and he ruined a good relationship most likely out of jealousy." She was shooting in the dark, but she knew that Molly assumed the world was jealous of her.

Molly crossed her arms over her chest and pulled her legs up onto the couch. "You think so?" she asked, her voice sounding small.

"I do," Dominique said. "And I know just what will help. Wait here." Dominique got up and walked to the kitchen, pulling a tub of ice cream and two spoons out before returning to the couch. She sat next to her cousin, opened the lid, and handed her a spoon. "It will make you feel better," Dominique said. Molly dug in, and after a few moments, the sobbing stopped.

"You're not to tell anyone about this, okay?"

"Of course not."


	10. Insanity

**A/N: Day 10! This one is of a romantic nature wooo. **

**Review? **

Victoire and Teddy

She was convinced that it took guts to fall in love.

There was a reason it was called "falling"; there was a connotation that one is dropping into depths unknown, into territory uncharted. To fall in love, one has to be willing to take a chance. To fall in love, one has to be willing to admit fault and also accept it in others. Falling in love was poetic, it was heart wrenching, it was joyful and it was scary. Courage was definitely needed to truly fall for someone.

But to fall in love with a metamorphmagus was just pure insanity. Or maybe it was just _him_; in which case, falling in love with Ted Remus Lupin was lunacy. She was crazy. She had to be.

Teddy was ridiculous, in _every_ sense of the word. He was temperamental, jumping from happy to bored to thoughtful to playful in a matter of minutes. He loved to try and look like other people just to see if she would catch on that it was him (she found it was quite easy to do so; no matter who he looked like, he couldn't lose that signature grin), and had an awful habit of changing his appearance with his mood. She was coming to associate black, curly hair with anger, and it really knocked her off balance when a young Ravenclaw with black, curly hair would ask her for help. Just being around him made her worry, made her nervous, frustrated her.

He kept her on her feet, made it so she could never just relax and simmer. She always had to be going somewhere, doing something, exploring new heights. Their dates had to be exotic places; the day after he turned 17, he took her along to see some places in Italy because he had never been before, and that was just a shame to him. Even while they were in school, he would ask her to visit high spires to see the moonlight or have picnics down by the lake.

But, she decided as she watched him study in the library, his brow furrowed and his hair in its customary blonde studying color, she did love him. She loved the stupid grin he always had on his face when trying to trick her. She loved the spontaneity. She loved how, when it was just the two of them, he would lose most of his devil may care attitude and be genuinely sweet.

Teddy could be strange and crazy, but he was also sweet and caring. Even when they were younger, and he was just the boy that Aunt Ginny would watch sometimes, she found herself interested in him.

He was her opposite in so many ways. He was everything she wasn't in all the ways that people could see. She was serious, reserved, and beautiful. He was mischievous, funny, and always changing.

Like she said, falling for him was _crazy_. It wasn't courageous, just ridiculous.

But, truthfully, she really loved being insane.


	11. Shadow

**A/N: Day Eleven; sorry for the wait! Also, the next one probably won't be posted until Sunday night or something. **

**Review! Enjoy! Etc!**

Albus and Rose

Heads always turned whenever they walked past.

Rose knew that none of the immediate attention was because of her. She knew that everyone was staring because of Albus; that they stared because _oh my _it was Harry Potter's son and _wow_ would you look at him? He's the _spitting image_ of his father. They were drawn to the messy lack hair, the bright green eyes, the glasses. They felt that they were in the presence of greatness, that somehow Al was something far superior to anyone they had ever met.

Once the hush would descend, Al would change; once he knew that people had seen him, that they were expecting something, he would rise up and become someone unfamiliar. He would stand straighter and smile- not smirk, not grin, not sneer, but _smile_. The eyes that were drawn to him were satisfied; it was not a human they were seeing but _Harry Potter's_ son. He was a god among mortals.

"Don't you ever get tired of the staring?" she asked one day.

Al shrugged. "When you're as handsome as I am, Rose, it's just hard not to stare. I can't fault them for something beyond control." She could hear the warning lacing his voice, and pushed no further.

Even from the first day on the train, everyone was afraid. No one would sit in the compartment with them; they all just stared and gasped and walked by. When they walked into the Great Hall, all eyes were on him, and when the hat fell over his eyes, the entire room was silent. Years later, the room would still grow quiet when he walked in, even though he was entering a room filled with people he saw every day.

James was never stared at quite like Albus, mostly as it was not apparent that James was Harry Potter's son at first. People could get used to seeing James. No one could really get used to Albus.

They were walking in Diagon Alley, just the two of them, when it happened. A familiar hush fell over the crowd as they entered Flourish and Blotts. Heads swiveled in their direction. Albus stood tall and smiled his practiced smile. He nudged Rose down an empty isle, still smiling. People followed them discreetly, trying to get a better look at Harry Potter's son.

"You look _so much_ like your father!"

"Your father is a great man!"

"You remind me so much of your father, Mr. Potter! So very much!"

Al just smiled and nodded, laughing when appropriate. The interest died down, slowly. They were alone in the isle, and Rose watched as her cousin, her best friend, sank to the ground. His shoulders sagged as if they held the weight of the world.

She sat down next to him, their backs to a bookshelf, and stared straight ahead.

Neither spoke.

"Sometimes, I wonder if I will ever leave his shadow," he said miserably.

As Rose put her arm around his shoulders, she wondered the same.


	12. New Friends

**A/N: Sorry it's been a while guys (for all of you who care)! I've been out of town and all that jazz. But I have a longer one today, so hopefully you like that.**

**Read and review, thanks! **

Albus, Rose, and Scorpius**  
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The train was, surprisingly, somewhat empty when Rose and Albus went looking for a compartment to occupy. After being told they could not join James and his friends (not that Albus wanted to) or any of the other extended family, they had to go looking for someplace to sit; luckily, most children were still outside saying their goodbyes to parents and siblings while the duo paced the train, attempting to find something suitable.

"What about this one?" Rose asked, sliding the door open. "It seems quite roomy, and there is enough space for us to fit our trunks while still leaving room for people to join us. What do you think? Should we go in? Or maybe another one down the line will be larger? Would people even want to sit with us? Oh, Al, please decide!" She bit her lip, turning to face her cousin with something akin to panic on her face.

Albus took a deep breath and shoved his cousin in the rather roomy compartment, dragging their things they needed for the train in behind him. He picked hers (it was heavy, and most likely filled with text books) up as she began to speak again, and stored it above her head. "So this one is good enough?"

Al picked his light bag up and slid it overhead, as well, before turning to narrow his eyes at Rose, whose lip looked as if it were about to bleed at any moment. Seriously, Rose would stress about the most minor of details for no reason. "Yes. Just like all the other ones we have been to, Rose, this compartment is fine. Now can we _please_ just sit down and relax?" He plopped down on the cushion and folded his arms over his chest. He was still stuck on what James had said in the car on the way to King's Cross, and despite the assurances given to him by his father, Albus was scared of being sorted into Slytherin. He stared at the ground, his nervousness almost palpable.

The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes as more people boarded the train. Al was now watching Rose, who was staring out of the compartment window into the crowds of people trying to find an adequate compartment. Most people moved y them without a second thought, but some kids- first years, just like them- peeked in before scurrying away.

"Why won't they just come in?" Rose wondered aloud as the eighth person looked in with mild interest before their eyes grew wide with recognition and they ran.

"I think we scare them," Al answered, concentrated now on the crowd outside. "Do we look scary?"

"I don't look scary," Rose said, "But you might intimidate them."

Albus snorted and shook his head slightly. "How could _I_ intimidate them?"

"Maybe they've heard of James, and know you're his brother. Or _maybe_, you look exactly like your father, the famous Harry Potter. That could be intimidating."

"That would make sense." Al repositioned his glasses, which slid down his nose, back to the bridge, and continued to watch as the crowd began to thin out. Still, no one joined them. Fewer and fewer people passed by until only a few lone young witches and wizards raced up the corridor, trying to find their friends or a place to sit.

At this point, Rose had seemingly resigned herself to the fact that no one was going to join them on their ride, and she had chosen a large compartment for no reason whatsoever. "I'm never going to hang out with you if you keep scaring off all of our potential friends," she told Albus, very seriously. "The train is starting to move, and we are all alone in this huge compartment. Mostly because of you!"

The door slid open just as Rose finished telling Albus off for looking too much like Harry, and in walked a silvery-blonde haired boy. "Do you mind if I sit down?" he asked, looking between the two cousins. "Everywhere else on the train was full."

"Not at all," Rose said, her mouth wide and her eyes larger than usual, completely astonished that someone had actually come into the compartment. Al and Rose watched as the newcomer lifted his little bag (probably filled with just a robe) and slid it next to Albus's.

The boy stood for a second after placing his luggage, his eyes drifting between the two before finally deciding the seat next to Albus would be better. An awkward silence descended upon them, only broken moments later by the boy speaking. "I'm Scorpius." He had a small smile on his face, which disappeared when he found both Al and Rose staring at him, shocked.

He looked from Rose to Al to Rose again, becoming visibly more agitated as the silence stretched.

Finally, Al shook out of his shock, and smiled at Scorpius. "I'm Albus. And this is Rose."

"It's very nice to meet you, Scorpius!" Rose smiled brightly, making Scorpius smile back, albeit weakly. He seemed surprised, as if he hadn't been expecting such an enthusiastic response from either of them. "I can't wait for our first year, can you? I'm so glad to have already met a new person."

"Technically, you've met two new people, right?" Scorpius said, glancing over at Al.

"Oh, no, we're cousins. I'm afraid I've known Rose my whole life," Al informed him.

Rose glared at her cousin, and then turned back to the newcomer. "Don't mind him, he's just nervous. I mean, Hogwarts! I'm so glad it's finally happening! I was afraid Papa wouldn't let me come; he kept going on about how I'm his little girl and Hogwarts was too dangerous for me. I think Mummy almost cursed him a few times when he really got into the thick of it. And with so many older cousins… they all love Hogwarts! It was so unfair listening to their stories at the table when they were visiting. Oh! I should be reading! I almost forgot that I planned to read on the train!" Rose jumped up and scrambled to get her book out of one of the bags above her head. She sat down and opened the book, completely engrossed in "Hogwarts: A History".

The silence that descended this time was comfortable, and Al took to staring out of the compartment window, watching the world rush past. As he sat, he daydreamed, picturing Hogwarts and the Great Hall filled with people.

"Wait, Albus?" The boy asked, shattering the silence one again and bringing Al back to reality. "As in, Albus Potter? Which means you're Rose Weasley?"

Rose shot Al a dirty look quickly over her book. "I told you they were all afraid of you."

"Yes," he said, ignoring Rose. "I'm Albus Potter."

"Oh."

Scorpius shifted, moving away from Albus, and began to look at his hands. Al stared at him for a second, then looked to Rose, who looked back at him with a confused look on her face. "You know," he started, "most people get excited and twitchy when it's mentioned that I'm Harry Potter's son." Scorpius nodded while still staring at his hands, like this is exactly what he expected to hear.

"And?" Scorpius asked.

Albus looked back over to his cousin for explanation about this boy's unusual reaction. Rose shrugged. "Well, you're not exactly excited. Or twitching, really, but I don't mind."

Scorpius looked up at Albus with his eyes narrowed and almost a sneer on his face. It was such a change from the hesitantly smiling boy they had just been introduced to. "I'm Scorpius. Scorpius Malfoy," he informed them. Al and Rose glanced at each other, and then looked back at Scorpius, who was waiting for something.

"So?" Al asked after a few seconds. He didn't understand why this should matter to anything, much less who sat in the compartment on the train with him.

Scorpius changed from sneering to shocked to just outright confused all in a matter of seconds. "'So'? What do you mean, 'so?'" he asked. "I'm a Malfoy. Son of Draco Malfoy."

"And?" Rose asked.

"And? And! What's wrong with you two?" He sounded quite exasperated for such an eleven year old. "I'm the son of both of your fathers least favorite person."

"No, I'm pretty sure that person is dead," Al said. "It's kind of a famous story; I'm surprised you haven't heard it."

"I think my father hates Viktor Krum more than he hates Draco Malfoy," Rose added helpfully.

Scorpius just looked between them, his eye close to twitching.

"Were you expecting us to do something?" Rose asked.

"You look like you were expecting us to do something."

"Maybe he thought we were to yell at him or something," Rose pointed out, looking over at Al.

Al shrugged. "Well, I was thinking about it, but it just seems like too much for the first day."

"Albus!" Rose said, her eyes dangerous and her voice full of warning. Al just laughed, and after a few seconds, Rose joined in with him, and the two of them didn't stop for a while.

Any nervousness that Al had felt about his first year at Hogwarts was slowly fading away. He found himself not caring if he was in Slytherin or Hufflepuff. It was all going to happen as it was meant to happen, and nothing would go wrong. _Well_, he amended in his mind, _things will go wrong. But we'll live_.

"You two," Scorpius said after a few minutes, "are completely mental. Did you know that? You're crazy!"


	13. Words

**A/N: Okay, so this one is a bit different. Eleanor is an OC created by my best friend when we decided Hannah and Neville needed a child. So Eleanor Longbottom and Winston Longottom were created. I hope you like Eleanor!**

"Lou, if you could use any one word to describe me, what would you choose?"

He sighed, resisting the urge to put a hand to his forehead, instead keeping his eyes glued to the page of his book. "I told you not to call me that. And, unique."

"Really? Unique? Was that the first word to come to your mind?"

_No._ He could have thought of hundreds of other words to suit her better. _Frustrating. Naïve. Infuriating. Persistent. Exasperating. _But if he were to have said one of these to her, she would have just done the thing where she tilts her head and stares at him with her big eyes, and then just accepts that he is being mean.

"Yes."

No fight. No argument. Just acceptance.

She was insane, really.

"So you think I'm unique?"

She said it like it was a good thing. Like being unique was all she really wanted out of life, to stand out and be _herself._ She didn't even think of the cruel connotations that could be associated with the word _unique_, of the ways it could be applied as a word used to pacify someone as completely odd and scatterbrained as herself.

"There are certainly no people like you in this world, Eleanor. You are definitely an individual."

Without even looking up, he knew she was beaming at him. "So I'm one of a kind."

"Yes."

"And there is no one in this world who even remotely reminds you of me?"

"I would agree, certainly."

"I stand out to you? You could pick me out of a crowd and say, "Her. That's Eleanor.'"

He turned the page. "I have known you for five years, Eleanor Longbottom. I believe that is long enough that you would be assured I know what you look like."

"And you think I'm pretty?"

"You have perfectly pleasant physical features, yes. Although what this has to do with the last line of questioning, I have not a clue."

Suddenly, the book was pushed down into his lap and she was there, inches away from his face, looking at him with pale grey blue eyes.

"Do you think I am pretty, Louis Weasley?"

And he noticed the way her blonde hair framed her thin face, her bright yet trusting eyes, her perfect lips, and her creamy white skin. Had she… _had Eleanor always looked like this?_ His Eleanor? The simple girl he had been forced to sit next to on the train because his sister had told him to find friends his own age? The girl who he had helped study for five years, who had taught him that socializing wasn't always a bad thing, and who had made him laugh (a feat which, as he could point out, was much, much harder than it seemed)?

This couldn't possibly be her. And yet, as she repeated her question, he knew that it was.

Louis raised an eyebrow and calmly stared her down. "As I noted before, you have perfectly pleasant physical features. I am sure that there are plenty of people on this planet who would call you pretty, Eleanor."

They stared at each other for a few seconds longer, Louis struggling to keep his calm façade while a smile stretched over Eleanor's face.

"If you say so, Lou."

She released his book and lay down on the grass next to him, stretching out and turning her face to the sun. He wanted to reach out and tell her she shouldn't do that; the sun would ruin her perfect skin if she tried for too long to gain some color, but he resisted. She could never know that she had gotten to him.

Eleanor suddenly arched her back and stretched her arms out above her head before turning toward him and curling into a sleeping position.

It took everything in him not to betray any emotion at the sight.

"I think I'm ready for a nap. Wake me up in thirty minutes, will you, Lou?"

_God damn_ it this woman was going to be the death of him.


End file.
